Ha Lachma Anya

I was reviewing the hagaddah and some of the commentaries over Shabbat, and was taken with what the Perush Kadmon has to say about Ha Lachma Anya. HLA is the paragraph right before the Four Questions, and it is the only part of the Hagaddah that is in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. (Chad Gadya doesn't count.) The Perush Kadmon asks why this is. ( Cut for length )

Ha Lachma Anya

I was reviewing the hagaddah and some of the commentaries over Shabbat, and was taken with what the Perush Kadmon has to say about Ha Lachma Anya. HLA is the paragraph right before the Four Questions, and it is the only part of the Hagaddah that is in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. (Chad Gadya doesn't count.) The Perush Kadmon asks why this is. ( Cut for length )

BCPT writeup

Today was the Boston Crossword Puzzle Tournament. ( It was a lot of fun. )

BCPT writeup

Today was the Boston Crossword Puzzle Tournament. ( It was a lot of fun. )

Sun day

As some of you are aware, this Wednesday morning, in addition to being the eve of Passover, is the once-every-28-years Jewish ritual of the Blessing Regarding the Sun. I've been giving a bit of thought to how I feel about this.

( The astronomy is wrong, and the ritual has accumulated fetishistic accompaniments, yet at its core the message makes sense. )

So yes, on Wednesday morning I will hope for clear skies so I can spend two seconds contemplating eternity --- but I will not make any bigger a deal about it than I did when I said the same blessing over the glacial valley at Franconia Notch State Park, or during last week's thunderstorm.

Sun day

As some of you are aware, this Wednesday morning, in addition to being the eve of Passover, is the once-every-28-years Jewish ritual of the Blessing Regarding the Sun. I've been giving a bit of thought to how I feel about this.

( The astronomy is wrong, and the ritual has accumulated fetishistic accompaniments, yet at its core the message makes sense. )

So yes, on Wednesday morning I will hope for clear skies so I can spend two seconds contemplating eternity --- but I will not make any bigger a deal about it than I did when I said the same blessing over the glacial valley at Franconia Notch State Park, or during last week's thunderstorm.